Mounting a dash cam.... and not for time lapse road videos

[ZLoth]

I'm not a parent, but the thought crossed my mind....

With the advances in technology, you can now purchase a dash cam for about $70 from Amazon which will not only record the road in front, but also the driver. Would you consider putting one in for your teenage driver as a condition for having a driver's license and using the car? How about for an employee in a company owned vehicle?

[US81]

Hypothetical for me at this point in my life; I don't have a company-owned vehicle and my children are grown. But I think I would probably place one in a company-owned vehicle, making all drivers aware. I wouldn't have used one with either of my children, but there is a certain subset of reckless teenager for whom this might be a valid option.

At the risk of going slightly off-topic: after witnessing / experiencing (as a front-seat passenger) a particular encounter with law enforcement, I've been seriously considering this type of dash cam for my personal vehicles.

[Duke87]

Employees: unless they are police officers, no. Cops need to be on camera for public accountability. But for people who do not have law enforcement authority, this is not a concern and babysitting them is insulting and pointless.

Teen driver: not on day one, although it might be something to consider if the teen proves themself untrustworthy.

[Brandon]

Employees: unless they are police officers, no. Cops need to be on camera for public accountability.

Dash cams have also aided police officers when they have been falsely accused as well.  There have been a few cases when a female motorist accused the cop of sexual assault, and the dash cam shows that she was lying.  The dash cam protects both the motorist and the police officer.

[hbelkins]

Employees: unless they are police officers, no. Cops need to be on camera for public accountability. But for people who do not have law enforcement authority, this is not a concern and babysitting them is insulting and pointless.

Teen driver: not on day one, although it might be something to consider if the teen proves themself untrustworthy.

It's not a dash cam, but our vehicles have GPS units in them. They flag if you're going over the speed limit, although I've been told that it's only for extended periods and/or only if the speed exceeds 80 mph.

I recently drove a work vehicle to Lexington for a meeting. It was agonizing. I made sure I only drove 70 mph (the speed limit) on the Mountain Parkway and I-64. I only passed a couple of vehicles and was passed by just about every other vehicle on the road.

They also track the vehicle's location. I know a guy who got busted driving his work truck out of the area to meet with a female other than his wife. He knew full well the vehicle had a GPS in it, yet he did anyway. It cost him a short suspension and a demotion.

Between the GPS trackers and the "How's my driving? Call this number..." stickers on the bumpers, I'm afraid to even take one hand off the wheel to adjust the air conditioning.

[1995hoo]

Hypothetical question for me since we don't have any kids and I don't have any employees. In the "kid" situation, I think if I were to mount something to monitor his driving I'd want to do something the kid doesn't know is there so he can't defeat it. What that might be, I don't know. Kids tend to be savvier than their parents about technology and how to defeat it. I might consider secretly mounting a GPS tracker underneath the car if I were really suspicious, though I don't how well that would let you monitor things like excessive speed and the like.

I will say I wouldn't do anything of the sort unless I felt I had probable cause due to the kid proving himself untrustworthy. I'm also aware some kids would likely view a camera as an invitation to do stupid things so they could show off to their friends, which is why if I were in a position to consider this sort of thing I imagine I'd prefer an option the kid couldn't access or didn't know was there.

[ET21]

I honestly would just to have security in case something went wrong and had to call 911 or I got into an accident (*knock on wood*) and had to state my case